(on the base of the
practice of the Central Scientific Library (CSL) of Azerbaijan National

Academy of Sciences (ANAS))

Safarova
Aygun

The head of
library-service division of

Central Scientific Library of ANAS.

Azerbaijan, Baku

Abstract

Scientific legacy as one of main components of the modern global information
space is integral part of moral and intellectual potential of every people as
well as being an intellectual property of humanity. Academic libraries, in
turn, play a leading role in transfer of this legacy. The introduced article
below is for analyzing this function of the academic library. In Soviet era negative characteristics of
library-information services made obstacles to develop this field for the use
of scientists and specialists and as a result some complications appeared to
occur.

News about development
of information field used to be available to scientists and specialists through
political and scientific literature which was under control of central
information structures of USSR. We can
generalize these problems as follows:

1.There was no opportunity to get
operative information from the world’s scientific information space.

2.Information received form the world’s
information space was seriously censored before getting to Azerbaijani
specialists.

3.There was no opportunity to research
Azerbaijani national and scientific legacy in world’s libraries and museums.

4.Scientists and specialists of
Azerbaijan (and other Soviet Union republics too) were not direct participants
of the international information exchange.

A modern view at the problem

Lots
of work were done after restoration of independence to solve the problems and
to integrate with the world’s information space. Conducted measures in the
field of information culture put number of national, state-importance
obligations in front of universal libraries as an educational and behavioral
enterprise:

1.Universal libraries should serve all
categories of readers and meet any of their information needs (professional,
production, scientific –research, educational etc.) .Universal libraries should
also participate in overall development of personality, non-stop education
process and become the organizer of personal education.

2.Universal libraries should have rich,
universal and ever-dynamic library, related to bigness, national and state
character of tasks put forth. It should store all kinds of books related to
conditions and demand in locales it is located in.

3.A set of universal libraries,
according to the principle of administrative territory, should closely
participate in economic, cultural life of the region it is located in.

4.Being essential organizers of the
works as a coordinating center serving readers of all scales of country,
autonomous republic, region and city, universal libraries as a leading
component in the system of single library should implement serious
organizational, administrative, scientifically-methodical measures.

The
fact that library being a social institution and monumental activities in the
context of determined tasks can be divided into 4 directions:

1.Study and agitation of national
cultural values.

2.Study and agitation of the world’s
accepted cultural values.

3.Study and agitation of prioritized
cultural values.

4.Study and agitation of regional and
local cultural samples.

Libraries implement monumental functions in
their daily activity, not depending on their types and location. All
library-information enterprises, from central library to branch one, engage in
exhibition and museum activity either permanently or periodically. The practice
of engaging in exhibition and museum
stands is implemented in the frame of national patriotic agitation of
libraries. This article is devoted to learning this very practice,

1.SCL is a part of ANAS’s structure. It
forms and gets formed according to ANAS.

2.Information and services for all
groups of population is accessible.

3.Transparency and reporting.

4.Professionalism and efficiency

5.Thriftiness

Ways of solving problems.

For the
purpose of implementation of determined tasks, CSL set 5 principal strategic
goals:

1.All components of Single management
system (SMS or VIS in native) platform should completely be ready for use.

2.To bring registration, digitalization
and protection process of National Digital Memory into a working condition.

3.Forming a professional staff.

4.Creating international cooperation
and public relations.

5.Providing information safety and
information sharing.

Activity of
Central Scientific Library in 2017 is designed on the following strategic
goals:

1.Trained professional staff.

2.Improving main indicators for the
library.

3.Purposes and obligations of the
modern library-information establishment.

Important
results that are planned to reach in the direction of above-put strategic goals
are determined as follows:

Important
result 1. All modules of automated management and control platform (VIS-LIB) of
the library services got prepared and set for use. Announcements placed on the
site were introduced to the use of CSL staff and its readers and got enhanced by
VIS AN ”Announcement” program application
to the flexible and manageable condition in the info-corner.

Bringing registration,
digitalization and protection processes of National Digital Memory (NDM) into a
working condition was determined as 2nd strategic goal.

Important
result 2 is creation of NDM on a
scientific basis.

Forming
professional staff is 3rd strategic goal.

Important
result 3. Exchange activity was improved in the result of the format that inform
public by digitalization, CSL library-service and active engagement in social
media. 12170 books and magazines were placed on their setting.

4thstrategic goal is creation of international relations and public relations.

Important
result 4. Press Council of Azerbaijan and ANAS management agreed on importance of delivering news,
scientific discoveries and scientific development processes to the general
public by media. They also agreed on ways of storing, systemizing and
protecting information.

As a 5thstrategic goal it was determined that information safety will be provided and
information will rationally be shared. CSL prepared a working model and started
to apply it to enrich AzWikipedia.

Important
result 5. Being a part of free electronic resources, the position of Wikipedia
in Azerbaijani moved from 58th place to 51st due to
trainings and after-training communication, made by ANAS institution and
outside organizations, in a systematic way.

Important
result 6. For 6 out of 17 ancient books, stored in Azerbaijani libraries and
revealed and digitalized by CSL, annotation was prepared by CSL reader and
introduced to users of the library.

Problems that must be solved.

Implementation of obligation put above reveals
problems that are important to solve. In the field of study, storing and
agitation of national scientific legacy, digitalization of materials,
protection and agitation process of digital national legacy continuously reveal
problems. These problems can be generalized as follows:

-Absence of safety provision. Although
physical safety of protected documents at CSL is partially achieved by
digitalization, preparing electronic catalogue and protection on the base of
digital memory, providing high safety of CSL resources faces impossibility of physical
and electronic integration. The reason of it – absence of licenses on the use
of operation system, program application and equipment; only 12 percent of
protected documents at CSL are on RFID chips; absence of additional equipment
to protect electronic information.

-Integration problems in modern
library-information system. The lack of budget means makes purchase of program
application, licenses, necessary equipment difficult, in most cases even
impossible.

-Input provision problems related to
regular and capital repairs. Multi-AC and –heating, electricity, water leakage problems
create such a cash burden for CSL, occupying 24080 sq. m. operating from 2014, which
are not met fully in the budget. As a result book resources, reading halls,
event premises, workplaces do not meet required quality standards.

Worked out proposals in the direction of
new mission and strategy implementation of CSL are timely and solid proposals
package to implement goals and obligations of CSL. Proposals take into account
the followings:

1.Review CSL structure and to decide
for its creation according to workings of Azerbaijani legislation and world
standards for the modern library-information activity.

2.Means should be allocated for purchases
of program application, licenses and necessary equipment to integrate CSL with
modern library-information system.

3.Taking into account facts that CSL is
the only scientific library in a republic’s scale, the library has got societal
importance and the needs to implement reforms in library-information system, it
is decided to raise petition before Ministry of culture and tourism of
Azerbaijan Republic for granting "national” status to CSL.

4.Additional means should be allocated
for repair works of the building of CSL.

5.To have 3-shift working regime,
additional vacancies are to be open.

CSL
is intensively engaged in agitating national legacy in digitalized space along
with its digitalization process. From this prospective, the list of exhibitions
conducted on multi-format (print and digital) is the direct indicator of the
fact that CSL has a highly unique fund.

Uniqueness
of ANAS CSL is also determined by the collections protected in its rare book fund.
In this collection numerous copies and samples are protected that do not have
analogues in the world. For example, Yevgeni Pokhomov collection – 4133 copies,
Post marks collection – 643 copies, Miniature
publication collection – 648 copies, History museum collection – 2588 copies
and so on.

Personal collections included in CSL
fund upon recommendation of world-famous scientists. Collections-with no
analogues in the world, from Azerbaijan national legacy perspective, are also
protected in CSL fund.

Azerbaijan has occupied a special place
in the world in studying oriental sciences. From this point of view, special
importance of CSL collections in the stock of Eastern literature is obvious. CSL
activity in this direction is worth attention, too. The following literature
stocked in CSL’s fund is very important in the sense of protection and
agitation of the national legacy:

Diplomatic Fund has also collections
presented by embassies of Azerbaijan in foreign countries, which consist of
mainly works of Azerbaijani scientists and poets published abroad. Importance
of these collections is enormous from the perspective of spreading the national
legacy in the world. For example, collection of Azerbaijani embassy in Poland –
140 copies, collection of Azerbaijani embassy in Hungary – 112 copies,
collection of Azerbaijani embassy in Moldova – 33 copies, collection of
consulate in Los-Angeles of Azerbaijani embassy in the US – 2 postal
marks, collection of Azerbaijani embassy
in Iran IR – 67 copies. These collections have works of Azerbaijani scientists
and writers published abroad and various materials about Azerbaijan.

Conclusion.

Thus SCL continues to show sustainable
development in the direction of defining strategic goals and in the fields of
learning, collecting, protecting and agitation of the national legacy.
Therefore, achieved positive indicators unambiguously appear to be a logical
outcome of performance every year.

It also replied to all inquiries of
academic community and readers, shared libraries information in media and
social media, attracted academic community to the library’s work and realized
new initiatives. Namely, CSL brought to agenda projects like National digital
memory, Single management system and others. It set those projects into working
conditions and studied them with scientific approach, attracted academic establishments
and academic community to library work. Our library expands its activity in the
line of making library services attractive.

6.Directive of the president of AR
about approving "State program on development of library-information field in
Azerbaijan Republic in the years of 2008-2013, (2008). Azerbaijan, October 7”.

7.Aliyeva Kengerli A.I. (2005), "Formation
central scientific library funds in the period independence: trends of
development and improvement (on the base of research materials)// Library
science and information. p.5”